HOME PAGE 

Bhagavadgita Pages, Chapters 1 to 18

BG01 BG02 BG03 BG04 BG05 BG06 BG07 BG08  BG09 BG10 BG11 BG12 BG13 BG14 BG15 BG16 BG17 BG18

V.Krishnaraj

 

POTPOURRI

 

 

POTPOURRI 1: The Stem Substance, Ākāsa

POTPOURRI 2: Yogi rides the Sound Waves of OM. From Sound to Silence. Destination: Silence

POTPOURRI 3: The cagey sages

POTPOURRI 4: COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY: INDIA AND THE WEST

POTPOURRI 5: Comparative Religion. Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit and the common Truths.

POTPOURRI 1

The Stem Substance, Ākāsa

And

WHY DO WE NEED SLEEP?

Aksaram: Imperishable, Avyaktam: Unmanifested. Here the Supreme is worshipped in three modes: The Imperishable, The Unmanifest and The Personal God. The imperishable Aksaram consists of three parts: the Lower, the Higher, and the Higher than the Higher. The lifeless prakriti is the lower Aksara. The Vishnu-dependent Aksara is Higher Prakriti or Aksara, associated with Sri. Hari or Vishnu Himself is called Higher than Higher and therefore perfect in excellences or attributes. This Higher than Higher Aksara or the Imperishable is equal to Brahman. All other gods, who do not meet the highest standards of excellences and attributes, are called Non-Brahman. Therefore, Brahman is one, only ONE, second to none, or One without a second: No (more) excellences can be added to Brahman. This Imperishable can neither be sought nor avoided, because it is present everywhere. According to Sankara, Brahman is space and the transmigrating selves are like the jars. It is false knowledge to say that the jar spaces are different from the unlimited space outside the jars. From the Imperishable comes the Unmanifest or Avyakta, from which comes Hiranyagarbha or the primordial Egg, from which the whole universe projects.

In Vedanta, the terms, Ākāsa (ether), Aksaram, and māyā are used interchangeably. Pluripotential Ākāsa is an undeveloped and imperishable principle from which all beings and the variegated universe project. Ākāsa is the basic material and stem substance of the sentient and the insentient. We are made of stardust. And that stardust originates from Ākāsa. Prāna is the power that breathes life into beings and acts as the immutable laws of nature (Rta), such as magnetism, gravity etc. Einstein calls Rta as cosmic religion. Rta is the Law of Tao from which the heavens, earth, Man's law, and king draw their lessons.  This prāna is not mere breath. The insentient universe and the living beings come forth from Ākāsa and involute in Ākāsa upon dissolution.

Vishnu Purana states that Hari in the form of Brahma is the instrumental cause of creation. The matter is imperceptible and invisible to start with, but the Supreme Lord infuses it with an intrinsic ability to transform, mutate, combine, and recombine into visible substances in this universe. The seed germinates into a plant from its own intrinsic ability, contained within its own substance. All the elements in various species of seeds are more or less same: the DNA base codes. However, the combinations and permutations of the elements are different from one another in such ways, that they germinate into many different species of plants. Another way of saying is that all seeds containing common elements such as ether, air, fire, water and earth in different combinations and permutations, produce different plants.

How could that be possible that Ākāsa is the pluripotential stem substance of this sentient and insentient universe? Let me give you a well-established fact as a supporting analogy and a parallel. There are pluripotential stem cells in the bone marrow and the umbilical cord blood. This stem cell is the cell that is able to transforming itself into any cell and organ in the universe of human body. 

Ākāsa is the matter and Prāna is the power. Both are under the control of Isvara (Controller). Akāsa (Ether) undergoes mutation as told by Brahma to Narada: the ether as the base for air etc. Prāna is energy, which energizes transformation of Ākāsa from being a subtle element to a substance in this world of evolution. Prāna encompasses all energies discovered and yet undiscovered. It is thought, it is motion, it is gravity, it is lightning, it is energy in the atom, it is the motion in the atoms, and it is the juice in everything. Any discovered or undiscovered energy in our body or universe is prāna; its specific name matters little: respiration, nerve conduction, thought, gravity, magnetism etc.  

Being, Noumenal and Phenomenal States

Why do we need deep Sleep?

For Sustenance, every Jivātman or the lower individual self needs communion with the Higher Self. (Communion between the Great Self and the individual self takes place in the spiritual heart. The individual self is a fragment (amsa) of the Great Self. Naturally the Great Self seeks to communicate with its fragment in the spiritual heart, which is the nodal point where these elements intersect. We should develop the ability to seek Him there.) Without that daily dose of sustenance, we are as bad as dead. Deep sleep facilitates this sustenance. It is as if the lesser self goes to the Higher Self for its daily dose of sustenance or recharging and boosting of its batteries. It is like plugging into the grid every night. In deep sleep, as it were, we do not exist in physical terms: Our body does not exist, as it were. We (the individual selves) know our identity: We are not the body, the mind or the senses but the self. The lower self and the Higher Self commune in the spiritual heart, and the former basks in the Bliss of the latter. After all, we are a fragment (amsa) of the Higher Self and go home to our Maker upon liberation. This nightly bliss is for ordinary beings; if one becomes a perfected yogi, he can enjoy Bliss any time or any place. That is Turiya. That is Eternal Bliss.

Being is of two kinds: Phenomenal and Noumenal

Phenomenal States: Visva, Taijasa, and Prajna

(1) Visva is the waking state, and cognizes external objects and duality of experience. Consciousness is outward moving. It is the perceptual self and entails a state of actions, reactions, and dualities. The empirical world is its playground. The sound A of AUM corresponds to the waking state. This waking state is also termed as Vaisvānara meaning, “relating to all men”.

(2) Taijasa is the dream state, which enjoys subtle objects. Duality such as pain and pleasure is experienced. Consciousness is inward moving. The self is imaginative; dreams are woven from the experiences of the waking state. The self is released temporarily from the empirical world. The sound U of AUM corresponds to this state.

The following modification is based on Joseph Campbell's view of dream sleep. (Page 70, Myths of Light.)

When you are in dream sleep, all dreams are mental creations like a movie in which you see yourself, others and events. Though there is duality of you on one side (subject) and that, he, she, and it on the other side (object), they are all one because they are your mental creation. It is a dream, a myth, and an illusion that you created. Life likewise is a dream, a myth, and an illusion. The heaven and hell, good and bad, god and soul, I and That, I and He, I and She, I and it are one. The acts in the dream are your acts; the it, that, he, and she are you because there is nobody else; they are all within you; therefore we walk and work in a world of dream, myth and illusion.

 

(3) Prajna is deep sleep. No desire is known or expressed. This third quarter of the self is prajna (a state of knowledge, Pra = prior + jna = knowledge = prior knowledge = wisdom), full of received bliss, and enjoys bliss. Consciousness enjoys peace and there is no awareness of external or internal objects. It is a temporary state for the duration of deep sleep. It is a conceptual self in that seminal concepts are incubated without awareness until they are hatched. This state of union with Brahman confers a temporary relief lasting for the duration of deep sleep. It is Prajna consciousness because it does not have the diffuse heterogeneous experience of the empirical world and it knows only one focused homogeneous mass of Bliss and is full of prior wisdom. It is not Bliss itself, but enjoys Bliss. The Higher Self is all Bliss; Brahman is all Bliss. Objective consciousness is absent, but its seed is present. The sound M of AUM corresponds to this state.

Noumenal state

(4) Turiya is Spiritual Transcendental Consciousness. Visva, Taijasa, and Prajna merge and fuse sequentially. Turiya is without any attributes: It or He is the Self. Objective consciousness is absent and its seed is absent. Ramana Maharishi says Turiya is "Wakeful Sleep". Turiya is present and functional in the perfected ones, even when they are awake. In Turiya, there is an irreversible union with Brahman; there is Oneness with Brahman: There is a permanent Metaphysical Unity. There are four progressive Turiya states, one deeper and subtler than the earlier one. The silence that follows the Sound AUM corresponds to this state. The icon Om has a crescent with a dot, Chandrabindu, which is Nada and Bindu. Chandrabindu = Chandra and Bindu = Moon + Dot. As you see, Nada Sakti cradles Bindu Sakti, Nada is the Mother and Bindu is the infant; Nada is subtle and Bindu is solid and heavy (Ghana) and so is the cause of the visible universe. Bindu is one compact, superdense pack of Sakti (power), ready for blossoming out into the building blocks of the universe in an orderly fashion. Maya Sakti brings about this blossoming, actualization and unfolding of this universe from Bindu in this cosmic choreography.

A,U,M represents Brahma, Vishnu and Siva-Rudra who are responsible for the creation, maintenance, and destruction of the visible universe. What existed before the visible Universe is represented by Chandrabindu, the silence, also known as Turiya. As said earlier, A is waking state; U is dream state; M is deep sleep; Chandrabindu is the Silence or Turiya.  The universe goes through these cycles; so also the Jivatma goes through the first three states, while Yogi realizes Turiya. Between intonations of two Oms, there is a brief period of Silence; that is Chandrabindu and represent Turiya silence.

Is it not beautiful to see Mother Nada in the form of Crescent Moon cradling Baby Bindu, who grows heavy, massive, and strong and becomes the universe with many parts? Bindu is the aggregate (Samasthi) of people and personalities, while each individual (Vyasthi) is part of that aggregate. Bindu's prolific energy produces all conceivable things in the universe ranging from blade of grass to Brahma. Nada-Bindu has all the equipment it needs:  Iccha, Jnana and Kriya (Will, Knowledge, and Action). Sun, Moon and Fire emanate from them; the gods emanate from them; the universe and Tattvas emanate from them. Nada-Bindu is in a continuous state of creation, maintenance, and destruction; anabolism and catabolism; combination, recombination, mutation, and permutation; thus, there is no beginning, there is no end to its activity, and it is a continuous cycle. Now you can see the amount of power packed in Pranava, Om with its Nada-Bindu.

 

AUM projects five rays: A,U,M, Nada, Bindu, Bija, and Santa.  Tirumular says in Tantra Four, Verse 885, that A became the world, A and U became Sakti and Siva and AUM became the Light (Jnana = Wisdom). M became the Maya.

Wakefulness is Bija; when Bindu is dreaming a million dreams it is in svapna state; when Nada is in deep sleep, it is Susupti state; Turiya is Sakti in union with Brahman; What is beyond Turiya state is Saanta.

Turiya States:

(4A) Jiva Turiya: Jiva realizes its pristine spiritual nature and its organic relationship with God or Self. Duality still exists.

(4B) Para Turiya: Jiva realizes Brahman, and union (absorption or merger) takes place. It is still NOT united. Duality is still apparent between object and subject, Jiva and Brahman. Remember: Brahman, the all-knowing subject can never be an object.

(4C) Brahman Turiya: Jiva unites with Brahman, and is fully absorbed and integrated into One Being.

(4D) Beyond Turiya: Jiva and Brahman become ONE as butter is poured into butter, and water is mixed with water. It is an undifferentiated and homogeneous state of subject and object fusion.

(5) Turiyatita: This is the fifth transcendent state of the soul, in which the jivatma is absolved of all sins, malas (impurites), and bondages and is called Sivamukta.  The other expansive term for it is Nirmala (ninmala) Turiyatitam. Nirmala = no + impurities.

This tells us the distinction between The Absolute and the God, Brahman and Isvara, Turiya and Prajna.

Supreme Noumenal Level: Absolute, Brahman, Turiya, and Silence after AUM have a horizontal relationship; all are Imperishable; Brahman is all thought, all Bliss, no dream, no sleep, no name, no form, and all light.

The Phenomenal Level: Isvara, Hiranyagarbha, and Virāt in the descending order equate with or correspond to Prajna, Taijasa, and Visva, and in turn to deep sleep, dream sleep, and wakefulness.        

Table:

Being

Condition

AUM-silence

Status

Consciousness

State

Brahman

Turiya

Silence after AUM

Absolute

4th state

Noumenal

Isvara*

Prajna

M of AUM

Isvara

Deep Sleep

Phenomenal

Brahma

Taijasa

U of AUM

Hiranyagarbha

Dream sleep

Phenomenal

 

Visva

A of AUM

Virat

Wakefulness

Phenomenal

 

Isvara*: Personal God. According to Madhava, Brahman in association with Māyā becomes Isvara who is the cause of the world. Brahman and avidya provide matter or substance and the Brahman and māyā provide the change and diversity in this phenomenal world.

The Noumenon is perception of an object at an intellectual, non-sensory, and intuitional level divorced from concepts of time and space: Brahman is noumenal, while Isvara is phenomenal; Brahman is absolute and Isvara is an adjunct status, but the status is no less potent. Vishnu as Isvara is a special entity (Purusa-visesa), whose nature is pristine.

The Highest Phenomenal Level One: God, Isvara, Prajna, and AUM belong to the category of the Unmanifest becoming the manifest universe of beings and matter (which are derivatives of the imperishable and immeasurable Brahman.) There is no descent, no reduction, and no diminution: According to Brahma Sutra, Isvara is Brahman with creative energy; His māyā-sakti is the mediating cause of this phenomenal world. Isvara is both transcendent (Cit Sakti) and immanent (Tatastham): He is transcendent in relation to Brahman and immanent in relation to the created world; this immanence is not a descent from transcendence for the sake of upāsana or worship; they are the two sides of the same coin, obverse is Brahman and the reverse is Isvara. Brahman is māyā-free and Isvara is Mayin. Brahman and transcendence have to be without attributes and so are māyā-free: Brahman transcends three gunas – Trigunātita (three gunas transcended).

Prajna is knowledge by intuition and self-realization (Prajna is transcendental wisdom.)

Brahman BECOMES ISVARA OR PERSONAL GOD with pure wisdom or Prajna. (Brahman does not diminish or cease to be, by becoming Isvara, the latter being an adjunct status.) Isvara is the Principle behind the Mula-Prakriti or the unmanifest, the inner guide of all souls.

The Higher Phenomenal Level Two: Isvara is the immediate cause of Hiranyagarbha, which is the embryo of the world; this Embryo stage (an internalized stage) is comparable to the dream state, ideas, possibilities etc. Brahma is the creator of this dream world of possibilities.

The Higher Phenomenal Level Three: Virāt or manifestation of the phenomenal world. When this embryo (Hiranyagarbha) is projected into space and time, we get virāt or manifestations.

Ramanuja says that Isvara is the inner controller of Cit and Acit – Beings and universe, sentient and insentient. When the embryo evolves, the manifest world is like the waking state. When retrograde involution takes place, the Cit, the Acit, Hiranyagarbha, and Isvara go (trace their steps backwards) into Brahman. AUM straddles all levels and is imperishable: A is for the waking state, U is for the dream state and M is for the Deep Sleep; the silence that follows AUM is the Turiya State; AUM is worshipped as Isvara and Brahman.

Devotion is of several kinds, thus bringing different results. The object of devotion or worship can range from nature, to lesser gods, to personal God, to Saguna Brahman to Nirguna Brahman: The Self is the same in all these entities. The fruits of this worship or devotion are according to the actions and the object of worship: they can range from acquisition of earthly goods, to success in certain endeavors, graduated liberation, samādhi, jivanmukti, or moksa; the results are also dependent on the mental make-up and the aptitude of the devotee. Everyone is not capable of becoming a Jnāna Yogi, but may have to be satisfied with karma yoga, bakhti yoga, Prapatti or Sarnāgati. The Self is the same in the snake worshipper and the jnāna yogi; the Self at both ends of the spectrum and in between is conditioned by the excellence of the mind; but all have the potential for eventual moksa.

 

POTPOURRI 2

Yogi rides the Sound Waves of OM. Destination: Silence

When we pray to God, we use the sound-syllable OM; OM is the first sound, first thought, Brahman and God; OM consists of three letters: A U M, the beginning, the middle and the end. AUM includes or contains the past, the present and the future and is beyond time itself. When Prajapathi was meditating on the three worlds, three Vedas originated; earth, atmosphere and sky came into existence; and the syllable AUM came about. "As the leaves are held together by its stalk, so is the speech held together by AUM." – Chandyogya Upanishad. AUM is the basis of any thought, spoken or written and more; AUM also represents the Hindu Holy Trinity: A, Brahma; U, Vishnu; and M, Siva. AUM knows neither fear nor death and so men, gods and asuras take refuge in AUM. (Sing it sotto voce and have no fear of anything.) In Sanskrit A and U combine to form O sound and M gives that resonance. A begins at the voice box,  fills the mouth (u) and ends in the closed lips (m). While modulations of the sound takes place, as said before, it resonates in the sinus cavities. Upanishads state, “As all leaves are held together by the stalk, so all speech is held together by AUM.” Joseph Campbell explains this as follows:

"Consonants are simply interruptions of these vowel sounds according to this view. So that all words and their meanings are simply broken inflections of aum, just as all the scattered reflections on that pond that I mentioned are merely broken inflections of that great cosmic image." (page 33, Myths of Light.) End of quote.

Aum is the whole universe and beings in all their states. A comes into a state of wakefulness; U goes into dream sleep; M goes into deep sleep. A is creation; U is life on earth; M is dissolution. The silence that follows OM is the period between dissolution and creation. This cosmic series of events take place in our daily lives on a smaller human scale: birth, life and death; wakefulness, dream, and deep sleep.

In wakefulness (A), one is aware of subject and object differentiation. It is I compared to you, it and that. Duality is the order of wakefulness; there is no self-illumination; it is all ego; it is matter; it is waiting for (spiritual) illumination from outside of itself. The empirical world is its playground.

In dream sleep (U), I , You, and that become objects; you are a subject who dreams and also an object along with others; thus, subject and object differentiation blurs and become one. It is a subtle state, where all are imageries, hopes, aspirations, fears, and possibilities.

In deep sleep (M), consciousness is in a potential state. It is a conceptual self in that seminal concepts are incubated without awareness until they are hatched. This state of union with Brahman confers a temporary relief lasting for the duration of deep sleep. It is a Bliss state, though temporary.

That is the beginning of spiritual awakening. Wakefulness is spiritual night; night is spiritual awakening.

Here I am quoting from Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, Verse 69.

2.69:  What is night for all beings is awakening for the disciplined soul and what is awakening for all beings, is night for the muni– the sage or seer.

 

What is night for all beings is wakefulness for the self-controlled person. That (the senses) which keeps all beings awake, is the night for the muni-the discriminating sage or seer.

 

Man, who seeks satiation of the senses, lives his life in the night of darkness and ignorance; and is not awake to the reality of the soul or Truth. The ignorant man “walks the nights.” What is awakening for a man of heightened senses, is the night of the soul (no enlightenment) for the muni (sage, seer). Muni, lacking worldly and sensual pursuits, and in the darkness (night of quietness) of his mauna (silence), sees enlightenment of the soul

Pleasure seekers are the “nightwalkers.” Muni, in his silence, is the night guard keeping the senses out of his realm for the sake of realization of the Self.  

OM is the syllable, the utterance of which helps a soul to penetrate Brahman proportionate to the degree of belief in it, detachment, abrogation of desires and contact with sense objects, and awareness. Its power is diluted by exegesis. Tirumular says in Tantra Four, Verse 885, that A became the world, A and U became Sakti and Siva and AUM became the Light (Jnana = Wisdom). M became the Maya.

    In Prasna Upanishad, there is a two-way conversation between Guru Pippalada and his disciples. Questions are asked and answered. The sound AUM is equated to the Higher and Lower Brahman, also known as nameless (or unqualified) Brahman and personal Brahman (or Isvara.)  Meditation on each and all component(s) of AUM brings benefits to the mediator. Component A guarantees a quick rebirth soon after death among men of high caliber and greatness associated with austerity, abstinence and faith. Meditation on the two components, A and U, guarantees a sojourn on the moon in all its greatness with a return to earth. Meditation on all three components, AUM, guarantees oneness with the light of the sun, shedding of all sins, (compared to the shedding of the skin by the snake) and an entry into the world of Brahma greeted by Sāma chants. (The world of Brahma is a collection of individual souls, who at one time or another are sent back to earth in embodied forms, after their term in Satya loka expires.)  From the world of Brahma, he goes one step above, gets vision of Isvara, qualified Personal Brahman and thereby attains eternal liberation from the world of samsāra. Meditation on the three components are better than meditating on individual components because AUM as one triad guarantees liberation and immortality in the world of Isvara, and AUM in its individual components guarantees only rebirth in this phenomenal world. 

    Nada Bindu Upanishad says that AUM is a Bird.

 

 

 

 

 

The first part of the mantra A resonates in Muladhara Chakra in the base of the spine; the second part of the mantra U resonates in Anahata and Visuddha Chakras; the third part of the mantra M resonates in Ajna and Sahasrara planes. The crescent with a dot in the concavity above the mantra, is Chandrabindu or Nada and Bindu and stands for the soundless sound Paranada. Chandrabindu = moon with a dot. Paranada is Supreme soundless sound, Nada is sound, Bindu is the derivative of Nada and the source of the universe. Nada is called Visvamata or Mother of the Universe; Bindu is Duhkha Hara or Pain killer or remover of pain. This idea from antiquity (actually a revealed knowledge) makes one consider that the Big Bang came from Nada-Bindu, a dot. 

There is an explanation as to how the Chandra Bindu (M) originated. Seed Sound Krim (Bija Krim) is formed in Ajna Chakra at glabella. Krim is composed of three components or sounds: Ka-kara, Kali; Ra-kara, Brahma as fire; I-kara, Mahamaya and m. Kara is the term used in designating a letter or sound: Om-Kara. m is Chandrabindu made of two parts: Nada (Visvamata), the Mother of the Universe and Bindu (Duhkha Hara), pain killer or remover of pain (Bijakosa). According to Kundalini Yoga, Kaali (Kundalini or Sakti) is the origin of sound; Krim is the Kali Mantra. See files: Sabda  <<<Click>>> Mantra.

A for wakefulness, U for dream sleep, M for deep sleep and Chandrabindu for Turiya silence: this is the explanation. Turiya silence occurs between two AUM intonations. Nada and Bindu (Paranada, soundless Sound) represent Turiya silence of the Unmanifest world, while AUM represents the manifest world of living beings in three states of consciousness as said earlier. AUM is Pravrtti, meaning continuation of life processes; Turiya is Nivrtti, meaning cessation; thus, the cycle of evolution, maintenance, and involution of an individual and the universe is contained in Pranava, .

 

    In Maitri Upanishad Chapter six, the Brahman is depicted as three-footed and three-lettered according to the three letters of the syllable AUM. The three-footed Brahman is rooted above and the branches are the ether, wind, fire, water, earth etc; this upside-down tree is Asvattha or fig tree: The import is that Brahman is rooted in heaven and the material world draws sustenance from Brahman. One has to cut asunder all attachments to the material world in order to attain Brahman. In AUM, Brahman is gender, light, holy triad, mouth, knowledge, physical elements, time elements, physical sustenance and growth, thought, and breath. 

Table: The Triads of Brahman

Gender

Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter

Light

Fire, Wind, and Sun

Holy Triad

Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva

Mouth

Three sacrificial fires

Knowledge

Three Vedas, Rg, Yajur and Sāman

Physical Elements

Earth, ether and sky 

Time Elements

Past, Present and Future

Physical Sustenance and Growth

Food, Water and Moon

Thought

Buddhi (Intellect), mind, and Self-sense or Ego

Breath

Prāna, Apāna and Vyāna– Breath, Downward breath, Pervading Breath

There was a rivalry between the Devas and the Asuras (the gods and the demons) born of Prajapati. The devas took refuge in and possession of OM and used it as breath through the nose. The demons corrupted the breath with evil and so the breath has become sweet and foul for the nose. The Devas meditated on OM as the speech, the eyes, the ears, the mind, and the breath by mouth. But they were all corrupted by the asuras so we speak truth and falsehood, see beauty and ugliness, hear what should be heard and what should not be heard, entertain good and bad thoughts, and experience dissipation of life breath as a clod of earth shatters on impact on a stone wall. (Chandogya Upanishad 1.2.1-8) This not only tells the importance of chanting OM, but also brings into focus the Sattva (divine) and Tamas (asuric) gunas or modes of behavior of an individual.

Upanishads mention that OM is the bow, the jivātman is the arrow and the Brahman is the target. A bow must be strong and tensile in that the faith is strong, one has depth and breadth in Vedic wisdom, and life lived by Sattva sharpens the arrow with devotion. The mind is the tip of the arrow. Silence and stillness are the goals that are Param-Brahman.

Om, as an entity, has a sage Visvamitra; it has three feet, A - U – M; the ocean its abdomen; the moon and the sun are its eyes; the fire is its mouth; Visnu is its heart; Brahma is its head; and Rudra is its locks.

 

 

Sabda-Brahman and Param-Brahman

Knowledge and beyond

From material, to spiritual to transcendent existence

Yogi goes from sound to silence. He rides on the sound waves of OM and his goal is silence.

There are two kinds of knowledge: Sabda-Brahman, Param-Brahman. Param-Brahman is superior and Sabda-Brahman is only a means to Param-Brahman. Knowledge of Upanishads and Vedas, sacrifices, and rituals are essential for growth and development of the soul or atman to a finite stage. After that stage, they have to be given up in the same spirit of detachment from desires. Here you are alone by your own self: No prop or support is given to the self; you are dead to the world, figuratively; you are divested of everything that you owned be it material or knowledge; names and forms do not matter anymore. You ride the OM sound waves of Sabda-Brahman until you reach the Param-Brahman, when the sound-syllable OM falls into silence. Sabda-Brahman or Brahman of Sounds consists of all book knowledge including rituals, sacrifices and Vedas. (Soundless Brahman is superior to Sound Brahman.) But the latter is the preliminary step before attainment of Soundless Brahman. When Soundless Brahman is attained, the names, forms, books, rituals, sacrifices, prayers and hymns should be abandoned. It is like saying that the raft should be abandoned once you reach the shore, that the chaff should be abandoned or thrown away, and that one should try to get to the rice. It is said that the learned man, after acquiring Jnāna and Vijnāna (knowledge and intuitive wisdom) through the study of sacred scriptures, throws away the scriptural books as a farmer (grain collector) throws away the straw after collecting the grain. Ramana Maharishi uses an analogy: You remove the thorn from the sole of the foot by another thorn and when done, throw away both thorns. At this stage of development, rituals, Vedas, and sacrifices have to be abandoned (at the dawn of higher realization of param-Brahman or Soundless Brahman). There is stillness and silence: That is the goal, that is the absorption, and that is the Bliss. It is like the spider climbing on its own thread to reach the higher space; so also the yogi goes up on the sound thread of OM and reaches his destination, silence (Param Brahman). He rides on the sound waves of OM and his goal is silence; he goes from sound to silence. He attained Vijnāna―divine, intuitive, realized wisdom. He sheds names and forms, speech is nothing for him, books have no value, and there are no hymns and prayers. Where he is, there is no fear; there is no sorrow; there is tranquillity; there is silence; and there is bliss.

This Vijnāna by its virtue is a nondual state, where there is a fusion of self with the param Brahman: This is known as Turiya, the fourth state of consciousness.

The four states refer to various levels of consciousness:

1) Waking state―perception mode (Gross Body)  

2) Dream sleep―mode of images and imagination (Subtle Body) 

3) Dreamless Sleep or Deep Sleep―mode of Self or conceptualization (Causal Body)  

4) Turiya―”beyond-Deep-Sleep” State (Transcendent, spiritual, pure consciousness) It is a NonDual State. 

The levels of consciousness can be viewed from the perspective of physiology:

Wakefulness

REM Sleep, Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

NREM Sleep, Nonrapid Eye Movement Sleep

TURIYA.

In all these states, ego is the main factor by its presence or its absence. Ego or ahankāra is the dominant mode in the wakeful state. Garuda Purana (1.226.4) states that because it brings about the states (waking, dream sleep, and deep sleep) and transition from one state to another state, Māyā is called Tripura (three cities).

   

Waking State: A of the A U M. The first Sound is A. In the wakeful state, the Indriyas, the prāna, the manas, the buddhi, and the ahankāra (Ego)―Citta―are operative and functional. This state is what we know as life and biological functions. So, the consciousness is projected outwards. The Self (first part) enjoys the gross matter.

2) The Dream Sleep: U of A U M. The second Sound is U. Consciousness turns inside. The ego is still working according to Ramana. The Self (second part) is dreaming and enjoys subtle objects. This is disembodied state and therefore the Jiva lives in only subtle or mental body for the duration of dream sleep. Mind stays conscious, which is borne out by the fact we remember the dreams. Mind is the only actor who plays all the rolls ranging from inanimate objects to gods and goddesses. People normally dream about things, events, and people which they have experienced by their five senses and are found in the repository of the mind. What does not exist in the mind already does not appear in the dream; Sadhaka's vision of gods and goddesses and merging with Brahman is a different matter.

3) Deep Sleep: M of A U M. The third sound is M. No ego play is in evidence here; the sleeper desires nothing that he usually desires during the waking state; no dreams occur. The Self (the third part) is undifferentiated consciousness, and enjoys bliss, being bliss itself. The lower self is absorbed in the Highest Self. Buddhi is in a potential state, and in suspended animation. 

4) Turiya: This state is silence following A U M. It is a multifaceted entity: This is the fourth part of the Self; it is differentiated; it is without attributes; no ego play is in evidence; there is quietness (Sāntam), peace and bliss (Sivam) “without a second” (Advaitam), according to Ramana Maharishi. This is realization, this is absorption, this is beyond Kaivalya (splendid isolation), this is Samādhi, this is oneness, and this is SatChitAnanda. It is beyond time, space and form; it is beyond consciousness; and it is the source. The four parts of the Self are compared to the cow's feet, but in its oneness Self is OM.

The four components of Self are the same four components of A U M and silence. Silence that comes after AUM is the fourth component or Turiya. Now we arrived at soundless Brahman. A is the waking state, U is the Dream State, M is the Deep Sleep, and Turiya is the fourth state: All four components form a unit or syllable. AUM-Silence equals AUM-Turiya: a transition from dual to nondual state. AUM state is a dual state for the self (the Self and the self are two entities); Turiya, the fourth dimension, inducts the self (yogi) into a nondual state; and the yogi becomes one with Brahman (the Self).

Ramana Maharishi explains these four states:  When ego is extinguished, the sage is freed from waking, dreaming and deep sleep. All that remains is Turiya, a noble state, first, last and transcendent. The first three states rest in the self, but the Turiya is Being-Awareness and nondual. When in Turiya, you know that the first three states are false. Know thou that Turiya is "Waking Sleep." Know thou that Turiya is "Grand Sleep" that knows no waking. Know thou that Turiya is "Eternal Wakefulness" untouched by slippery sleep. In the dream sleep and waking, it is the ego and not the atman that sees a world of fancy, but that ego sees nothing in deep sleep.

Brahma Sutra (3.2.10): In a swoon it is half attainment (ardha, half; sampattih, attainment) meaning that it is half deep sleep and half death.

It gives us an idea of the state of swoon, as in a person who is whacked on the head with a club: He is neither in deep sleep nor dead; he is not in deep sleep, because he cannot be awakened as a sleeping person could be awakened; he is not awake, he is not dreaming, he is not in deep sleep, and he is not dead. This state is between deep sleep and death, and that is half attainment so far bliss or death is concerned. He has one foot in death and one foot in half bliss. His karma dictates which way he will take. This is not a fifth state, because the causes for swoon are extrinsic. For Ramanuja, it is a halfway toward death. For Nimbarka, it is death by half measure.

Sleep and dreams according to Upanishads

The thoughts expressed here are from the Upanishads.

States of consciousness: In this world of names, forms and images, it is all perception, whether it is true or false. This consciousness is wakefulness―Gross Body. Ego is in the dominant mode; it is “I” against you and the world, and perceptions are distorted and images are falsified; Reality and Truth are submerged, and ignorance and ego are in full display. The three gunas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas oscillate in random fashion: One time you are sattvic, next moment Rajasic and the next Tamasic; your mind, thoughts, speech and deeds are caught in the rise and fall of these three gunas. The pristine Self is both a chronicler and a spectator. The lower self enjoys (experiences) matter, as the bird eats sweet and sour fruits. Then comes the dream sleep, and the "self" (second part) existing in "Subtle Body" is dreaming and enjoys (experiences) subtle objects. Still the ego is operative, never taking rest or repose. The mind dreams impossible dreams. The dream sleep is microcosm of heaven and hell, and the ego is the director of each frame of the moving images: The hopes and the fears, the pleasures and the pains come to dream surface in the form of images: The world of images is real to him; he cries, he laughs, he writhes, he rolls, he enjoys, and he suffers. These dreams are real to him; he talks like a learned Brahmin, and he acts like a powerful king. He is high and he is low; he thinks that he controls. His dreams scare him: blindness, lameness, and other defects; but the atman is not dreaming. He knows not and suffers according to the Upanishads. Self is not killed when body dies. His fears during wakefulness translate into images during his dream sleep: That is ignorance and māyā (avidya and delusion). The truth is that you are the soul that wants to take you beyond dreams to bliss or union with Brahman or the Greater Self.

Then comes deep sleep. The Self is seated in the causal body. The Self (the third part) is undifferentiated consciousness, and enjoys bliss, being bliss itself. It comes close to splendid aloofness and isolation of kaivalya. Finally the ego has taken leave; the self asserts itself and shines; the sleeper is absorbed in the communing self: He is serene; he is calm. This is atman; this is Brahman. This is immortality; this is fearless Brahman. The speech is on hold, the names and forms are on hold, the sound is on hold, and the mind and its thoughts are on hold. It is repose and tryst with Self. Suddenly, there is fire; the sparks fly; he is awake; and the juices start flowing. From atman, all the vital breaths (energies) flow to their destinations. As his sleep dissipates, his consciousness returns; he rises; and he now knows life as he knew, before he went into dream sleep and deep sleep.

Turiya, spiritual transcendental consciousness: Turiya is without any attributes; It or He is the Self. Objective consciousness is absent and its seed also is absent. To Ramana Maharishi, Turiya is "Wakeful Sleep." Turiya is present and functional in the perfected ones even when they are awake and is an irreversible union with Brahman: There is Oneness with Brahman; there is a permanent "Metaphysical Unity."

POTPOURRI 3

The cagey sages

The story goes like this: The great sages assembled on the bank of River Sarasvati not for "gabfest" over popcorn and soma, but for more serious philosophical and Vedic discussions. The sages raised a question about who among the three is the most qualified Supreme Lord to run this cosmos. They had to choose one from among three prospective candidates.

The cagey sages appointed Bhrgu Muni to device a devilishly simple provocative test for, and put the vise on the Holy Triumvirate: Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The burden of investigation fell on the laps of Bhrgu Muni, who is the son of Lord Brahma Himself, one of the three candidates. Do not expect to see any trace of nepotism in him. Bhrgu Muni devised a test to pick the winner: his test relies on the principle of goodness in full measure in a candidate. The other qualities considered undesirable in the candidates are passion and ignorance. Does it not remind you of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas?

Bhrgu Muni walked on his father unannounced and failed to greet Him in the usual and conventional ways a father, Guru and a Vedic scholar should be: Brahma is all that and more rolled into one. Bhrgu Muni is testing him: not that he lacked respect for his father. Lord Brahma blew his stack, and had to contain himself from laying a curse on Bhrgu Muni, because he was his son. (A note on Bhrgu Muni's knack for getting under the skin of interlocutors and contacts is in order: At the beginning of creation, Bhrgu Muni crawled out of Brahma's skin. Now you see why he is always prickly. Bhrgu Muni was one among the ten sons of Brahma, who sprang from the body parts and mind of Brahma. It was not a conventional conception, pregnancy or birth.)

Bhrgu Muni made a quick exit from Brahma Loka and made a beeline to Kailasa, the abode of Siva. A reminder: Bhrgu Muni is the brother of Lord Siva Himself. Lord Siva, on seeing his dear brother, rose to embrace him. Bhrgu Muni shunned his brother's embrace and quickly let loose a tirade: He asked him not to touch him, and made references to his personal hygiene, application of ash over his body, etc. All these insults were flung on Siva in the presence of Parvati, the consort of Lord Siva who in a fit of rage and with eyes inflamed and red with anger (His name Siva means auspicious, kind and gracious) picked up his trident; and before he could lunge the trident at Bhrgu Muni, Parvati fell at the feet of Siva and sweet-talked him into holding himself back, and out of grievously hurting his brother.

Having been saved in the nick of time and extricated from jaws of death, he scuttled out of there as fast as he could. Having been subjected to his father's ire, and near-death experience at the hands of his brother Lord Siva, he felt like kicking somebody.

(This is only a test, although it is real, repulsive and unpardonable in the minds of the devotees of Lord Vishnu.) Bhrgu Muni caught Lord Vishnu and Sri at a private moment, when Sri was tenderly massaging His lotus feet. The Muni, unknowing to the Lord and Sri (you sure can bet that the Lord knew all this before hand) kicked the Lord on His chest exactly in that spot in which Sri took up her residence. He hurt Brahma with his mind by not paying obeisance; he has hurt Lord Siva by his speech; and now he hurts Lord Vishnu by his deed. The Lord jumped out of His bed on his feet, and faced the Brahmana, the Muni. The Lord and Sri paid their obeisance to the Brahmana and offered him a seat and an apology for not receiving him with the respect that is due a Brahmana and begged for forgiveness. The Lord offered to massage the lotus foot of the Muni, which might have been sprained from its impact on the hard chest of Lord Vishnu, who added that the kicked spot on the chest, which is the abode of Sri, was sanctified by its contact with Bhrgu's foot. He went ahead and actually massaged the feet of the Brahmana, and thanked the Muni for having sanctified the abode of Sri Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune on His chest by his kick, and thus ensuring a permanent sanctified residence for Sri. Sri, the Goddess of fortune, is known not to stay in one place thus reversing the fortunes of many a being. Thus Bhrigu’s holy kick removed that doubt that Sri might leave lord Vishnu. The Lord was grateful to the Muni for guaranteeing that Sri would stay on His chest permanently for He had a large debt to pay to Lord Kubera. Sri is known as Cancala, which means in Sanskrit: "moving to and fro, unsteady." The "mark of Srivatsa" on the Lord’s chest is the hair representing the footprint of Bhrigu (Canto or Book six, chapter 8, text 22 Bhagavatam).

Bhrgu Muni couldn't believe his eyes, his ears or his mind, when Lord Vishnu addressed and treated him thus. He was stunned; his eyes were rivers of tears; his throat was lumpy, not for lack of words; but those words were not adequate to express his emotion and he stood frozen still in silence.

Once he recovered from this unexpected turn of events in his encounter with Lord Vishnu, the Muni made a dash to the fellow sages. All the details were told, retold, hashed, rehashed, discussed, and analyzed; and a conclusion was reached: Lord Vishnu is a pure sattvic through and through. The sages were impressed by the fact that Lord Vishnu, having been subjected to physical abuse in the light of the fact that he is the supreme Lord of the universe and beings, kept his composure under trying circumstances. He did not flicker at the turbulence caused by the winds of violence, abuse, and passion and stood there like the sun flickerless in its effulgence. They all decided that "Vishnu's lotus feet" is the only shelter that a sinner and a sage can seek for salvation.

POTPOURRI 4

COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY: INDIA AND THE WEST

 

Ahankāra, Manas, Buddhi and Purusa on one hand and ID, Ego, Ego-ideal and Superego on the other hand

Ego, Id and Superego form the personality. Ego in Latin means "I."

Id is based on heredity and environment. Id is what the infant is born with. In Vedas, this ID is what is called Prārabda karma, which determines “the ancestry, heredity and environment” that the infant is born into, and is not under our control. Sprouting seed karma is what it is: Prārabda Karma is in the process of being resolved, it is in motion, and it cannot be stopped. It is like the potter's wheel, which spins even after the external force is stopped and stops once the momentum is spent. It is like the discharged arrow from the bow; it is too late to stop the arrow in mid flight; once the arrow leaves the bow, the archer has no control over it; and hence, it cannot be stopped until the momentum is spent. You have to bite this bullet (of prārabda karma). It is congenital: There is no prevention or cure for this; it cannot be destroyed by knowledge of Brahman; it has to be resolved or lived through. Id is energized by libido according to Freud, and this libido is called Prāna in Veda. Id in a vacuum is instinctive, its reactions are reflexive jerks, and it has to be controlled.

Id is the basis, upon which EGO is built. Ego is a dynamic process, by which the personality is built on the framework of Id, in its contact with the external reality. ID’s operating principle is pleasure principle, to ensure maximum pleasure and minimal frustration to the individual. Reality Principle is fulfillment of instinctual needs through dynamic process of awareness and adjustment to environment. Ego always tries to satisfy the reflexive jerks of the Id, but Superego tries to modify the reflexive jerks in behavior or response. ID tries to make the best out of a good or bad situation, in the context of I-ness, and Mine-ness. Ego has its own standards, which are known as ego ideal, which is also dictated by external reality.

Superego is the conscience of the individual, which has the modulating influence upon one’s satisfaction of needs according to one’s moral values. The societal norms and the prevailing environment to a certain extent dictate this superego, which influences the Id's instinctive reflexive reactions by way of modification, postponement, and sublimation. All of Id, much of the ego and the superego are unconscious; part of the ego and the superego sitting on top of it are at conscious level. These three components can be compared to an iceberg floating at an angle, where the Id is completely submerged, but only part of the ego and the superego are seen above the water level or consciousness. There are three states of consciousness or awareness: the Conscious, the Preconscious, and the Unconscious one below the other. (I will elaborate on Super-consciousness later). The conscious state is general awareness and thoughts; the preconscious state is under the surface and is the warehouse of information that we can recall at a moment's notice: names of a person, birth dates, anniversary dates, social security numbers etc. Below that, the unconscious state is a repository of lost, suppressed, repressed, preverbal, infantile thoughts, ideas and experiences, and (do not get jolted) possibly memories from the previous lives. As in the case of an iceberg, the whole of Id, a good deal of ego, and superego are unconscious elements; therefore, they are under the water level, or below conscious level. That is why some of our reactions to situations are automatic and unexplainable, unless we make a conscious effort to react to it. It is claimed that none of us with a few exceptions can recall our past lives. This memory loss for the past life experiences is a gift from God for its persistence is a handicap for the new you. In the same manner we inherit the genetic load from our parents, we inherit tendencies and Vāsanās, behavior patterns or gunas, knowledge, skills etc. from our past lives. The fact that we cannot recall our experiences as an infant does not negate the existence of such experiences. Jung says, "the first childhood dreams contain Samskaras (impressions, tendencies), the archetypes. It is in no way surprising  that we find obvious Cakras or Mandalas in children's drawings. Some children are very old; later on we soon grow younger. In our middle age, we are youngest, precisely at the time when we have completely or almost completely lost contact with the collective unconscious, the Samskaras. We grow older again only as with the mounting years we remember the Samskaras anew." The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, page 73-74.  It is reported that Buddha remembered and recalled the experiences from his previous lives. Ramana Maharishi, by his admission, received all his scriptural knowledge during his samādhi. He never read any scriptural books previously. There are two possibilities here. It is all received or revealed wisdom from the beginning or it is the total recall of the knowledge he accumulated in the previous life or lives.

Id is portrayed to play a role in the dream sleep experiences. Pleasure principle is modified according to Reality Principle, Superego and Ego ideal. Id and Ego are the Vedic Ahankāra (ego). The superego and the ego ideal are the buddhi illumined by Purusa, assuming that Sattva is the dominant mode in buddhi. (Buddhi is intelligence, Purusa is spirit, and Sattva is goodness and virtue.) Here manas or mind takes order from Buddhi. If Tamas is the dominant mode of the Superego and ego ideal, you have an antisocial being. I am going to hazard a guess. Part of this id is possibly accumulations of Vāsanā (smell, tendencies or impressions) left from previous transmigrations of the soul. That is why it is subject to karma, ancestry and heredity. If an infant can inherit genes from parents, why should not that infant inherit the Vāsanās and Samskarās (fragrances, tendencies or impressions) from previous births? What cannot be proven by the present science does not necessarily mean that it does not exist. Vāsanā means smell; inheritance of Vāsanā is from the transmigrating subtle body.

Self-image, self-worth, self-respect, I-ness and mine-ness, Egotism (vanity), You-ness, and Altruism

According to Vedas, Self-image, Self-worth, self-respect, you-ness must be developed and I-ness and mine-ness should be destroyed for the establishment of dominance of self over the body, for the welfare of the world, and for the liberation or moksa of the individual.

Eastern thoughts

Vivekananda says that there are many kinds of consciousness: Subconsciousness, consciousness and superconsciousness. Sub-consciousness is said to be the instinct seen in animals. The bird knows instinctively of building a nest: It is hardwired, instinctive, automatic, hundred percent reliable, foolproof and not reason-based. Consciousness is ruled more by reason and less by instinct; chances of errors are more commonly seen at conscious level of perception than in instinctive knowledge; consciousness is a higher state of mind, seen only in the human beings. Yogis possess a higher state of consciousness known as superconsciousness. It is cultivated and beyond the ambit of reason and ordinary human intelligence. It is said that one has to go beyond reason and consciousness in the superconscious state, because that knowledge is beyond hearing, beyond what is heard, and beyond thought: It is revealed wisdom. By this superconsciousness, man becomes divine and free. He gains immortality and his bondage is torn asunder. It is said that in man, instinct matures into reason; and in the yogi, reason matures into superconsciousness, which is also known as Samādhi. It is said that some acquire imperfect superconsciousness, experience hallucinations (as opposed to revealed wisdom) without having the benefit of a full preparation for the state of a yogi, and receive revealed wisdom with superstitions. Elsewhere, you will find notes on yogi, and samādhi.

 Ahankāra has this automated unthinking reflex response to external stimuli, and the manas (mind) is also reflexive and not intuitive or discerning. Before the manas acts on these external stimuli and after they pass through the ego factor of I-ness, buddhi applies its sattvic filter and then come the actions from manas. As you see, the manas, ahankāra, and buddhi form a unit (Citta or antahkarana or inner organ), which is the command and control center of the body. Buddhi is the modulator of response and therefore is the moderator. Buddhi inherits Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas from Prakriti.

The yogi gets rid of Tamas and Rajas; once the Tamas is removed, darkness dissipates, buddhi becomes clear and translucent as the water; then as Rajas is removed, agitation departs; stillness prevails; with clarity and composure, and turbidity removed, buddhi shows by its reflective mirror Purusa in its self-luminous state, standing aloof from the hustle and bustle of prakriti. Of course, you have to be a yogi to get to that stage.

POTPOURRI 5

Comparative Religion

 

Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit and the common Truths.

C: Christianity

H: Hinduism:

C: The Trinity.

H: Hindu Holy Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. When Atri Muni was praying to one God, all three gods appeared before the muni and granted his wish to have three sons, who turned out to be partial incarnations of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. They added that the ONE that he was meditating on is all three in ONE. (Bhagavatam Canto 4. chapter 1. Tantra Sastras mention five entities in One and One in five entities: Nara Narayana, Jagadamba, Sri Krishna, Mahadeva, and the Universe. 

C: The Satan

H: Hindu religion’s Satan is the Asura. God and asura are the two sides of one coin. Sura is god and asura is antithetical to god. Both were the creations of Prajapati.

C: Jesus said in Matthew 22:29, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God."

H: Look at the power of My divine nature. (Bhagavad Gita 9.05)

The one who knows my power is united in me and devoted to me (BG 10-07)

Whosoever is blessed with glory, effulgence and power, know that it is only a fraction of my power. (BG 10.41)

C: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

H: Hiranyagarbha, the germ, the cosmic egg broke into two half-shells: upper gold and lower silver of heaven and earth. Here Hiranyagarbha is the universal soul, a product of nameless, formless Nonbeing. It is the Great Self, as distinguished from the individual self. Author's personal bias: Hiranyagarbha is the blueprint for Prakara, Cit and Acit – the sentient and insentient. This primal or the stem substance is Ākāsa, which in its original state, is undifferentiated, and pluripotential.

C: Creation, Omnipotence and No Existence before God.

H: In the beginning, there was no Being. There was Prajapati – God who created man, beings, and universe. Prajapati or Brahma, Brahman, Isvara and Narāyana are interchangeable names indicating the same Entity in this context. They are distinct in their own special ways under different conditions. It is like calling Mike a teacher, a father, a brother, a son, a husband, and an uncle at different times in different relationships. 

C: The Old Testament.... Spirit of God.... the quickening or propulsive principle of the world.... All life coming from God… The word "moved" or "moving" mean motion,... light, heat and electricity... the Holy Spirit brooded over the waters; From chaos came cosmos, order.

H: It was pulsating and propulsive. It looked upon itself. It was awareness itself. What am I? Who am I? Let me be something. He created the mind. All that was there was water. Then came the heat. Fire or heat is that in the water. Let me breathe life into my own self. Let me be a person or entity. Prajapati was born out of His own will.

C: Work of Divisions: 1st day – light, 2nd day– air and sea, 3rd day– land and plants. Work of Quickening and Adorning: 4th day– sun, moon and stars, 5th day– birds and fish, 6th day– animals and man.

H: This formless awareness-Self, powered by Kāma and Tapas, bursts forth into this universe, the gods, the asuras, the two-footed and the four-footed ones.

C: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Instead of saying, "Let there be man," He had said, "Let there be light"…

H: First there was Awareness -Atman or Light. From Vishnu, Brahma was born; from Brahma, the gods, the men and other beings were born. A draft animal is yoked to a vehicle; so also prāna (breath) is yoked to this body. It was awareness or divine intelligence. It was the word of god. It was a thought, before it became energy, material or flesh. “Let there be light” are the words of God. Hindus call it Vac– word of God. A word translates into energy or material, as a thought translates into a chair. God is the divine mover. He creates, quickens, and actualizes. There are many Mahā vacs in Hindu religion. The most quoted one is: Tat Twam Asi or That Thou Art. Others: Prajnānam Brahma, Consciousness is Brahman; Aham Brahmāsmi, I am Brahman; Ayam Atma Brahman, this Self is Brahman. Jesus said, “I and My Father are One”– John 10-30. He also said, “ Believe that the Father is in Me and I in Him”– John 10-39. Nobody understood Lord Jesus Christ. These two vacs correspond to the Mahavācs of Hinduism.

As Lord Krishna said: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7: Verse 25

Nor am I manifest to everyone, veiled by my Yoga-māyā. The foolish do not understand me as unborn and unchanging.  

Commentary: (Lord Krishna) I am veiled by yogamāyā. I am seen in this human form that is usually associated with the jivātman and gunas. I am beyond all these. My human form fools the ignorant people who underestimate my powers. I am Unborn, Supreme, Imperishable, Transcendent, and Immutable, and yet in this form, I am endowed with kalyana gunas (auspicious qualities). This is a divine sport for me and I willed this human form, so that my devotees can surrender and take refuge in me. 

Hinduism-Christianity-Islam: Prajapati, Adam and Eve and the Single soul of Koran:

Woman came out of man. Adam came first and The Eve came out of Adam. Koran says that God created one soul, a mate from the latter and countless men and women thereafter. Then there is the Hindu view of Prajapati splitting into two, one male and another female.

H: One alone was no delight. He– Prajapati– desired a second. He caused the self to fall into two pieces. There from arose husband and wife. The whole humanity came forth from these two. I (God) emitted all this. I am the creation. He created Rta, universal law. Rta and logos have some commonality between them. He created dharma.

The spider issues forth thread. In the same manner all worlds, all gods, all beings including asuras come forth from me. According to Brahmasamhita Text 13, the universe and beings exude out of the porous body of the Lord. The split to create another being is the original sin. In order to correct the original sin, the gods offered sacrifice. The asuras were opposed to it. This was the beginning of the struggle between the good and the evil. 

Recently geneticists have unraveled some truths about man and woman. It is said that man’s inheritable mutations take place at twice the rate of a woman's, indicating an evolutionary spearhead in man. It can spearhead an evolutionary process or produce maimed bodies or minds. This goes to endorse the Christian view of Adam and Eve and the Hindu view of Prajapati splitting into two parts, resulting into two beings.  According to Koran 4:1, God created a single soul from which he created its mate and through them countless men and women. Since the Hindu scriptures predate dawning of Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths and scriptures, could it be possible that those religions borrowed the idea from the Hindus. Could it be possible that god gave this revealed knowledge to different people at different times?  

C: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat." 

H: The Supreme Spirit is the witness, the guide, the supporter, the enjoyer, and the great Lord (BG13.22)

The indestructible God, who pervades the three worlds, sustains them. (BG15.17)

According to Subāla Upanishad (13-13), childlike nonattachment and innocence are the qualities to be developed. Innocence here means freedom from knowledge of right and wrong.

C: The serpent, the fruit, Eve and Adam.

H: Those who have supreme faith in me with purity in thought, word and deed without any desire for fruits – reward – are said to be good men. Bhagavad Gita (17.17). The serpent is an allegory for the inner weakness of man and his susceptibility to gratification, disobedience of the word of God, and blame game. Hindus call this tree of knowledge of good and evil as false knowledge: Avidya. This avidya or nescience is neither existent nor nonexistent. It is inexplicable. It cannot be existent, because God is the only real existence; but it is existent, because without it, there is no phenomenal world. Avidya and māyā are the cause of the phenomenal world. This avidya was too strong to overcome for Adam and Eve and could not be dispelled by knowledge (Vidya). But it is not that strong that it cannot be overcome. This avidya is transient, ephemeral, unpredictable, but surmountable and casts a spell of māyā, which is veiling, revealing and projecting. It veils the Real; it reveals the nescience or ignorance of the subject; and it is projecting the illusion of this universe or the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This fruit on the tree is an illusion superimposed on the Real, that is God or Brahman or His word. This Avidya and māyā are the products of prakriti, the gunas, namely Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Sattva is good behavior, Rajas is action and Tamas is ignorance. Māyā can be compared to a web. The spider moves about the web easily. In the same manner, God moves about in this phenomenal world, but the individual self gets caught in māyā, as a fly gets caught in a web. It is like the honeybee drinking nectar gets trapped behind the closing petals of the flower.

What is māyā? This phenomenal world is a world of dualities. There is dirt covering the diamond; in this case dirt is veiling the diamond. There is a Truth behind a lie, ignorance or superimposition. There is a Real behind māyā; the web of phenomenal world is hiding the Real. Māyā is a veil on the Real; Māyā is the cloud between you and the sun. The Real is Atman or Self or Soul.

When one is in ignorance, he sees the phenomenon and does not see God. When he sees God, the universe vanishes. There is divinity in all beings. In the amoeba or worm, it is mostly hidden or obliterated by māyā, and in the human, it is least hidden. Divinity is the same in all human beings and out of this comes morality. In the Satan or the snake the divinity is much overshadowed and so morality is least expressed. That was why the devil's moral values are low. Paul speaks of Satan as "the god of this world" and the "prince of the power of the air" since Satan, or the devil, is said to disguise himself as an angel of light.

This Avidya and Māyā are not only a negative principle, but also a real power. In its negative mode, they are veiling– that is veiling the Self or the Real. In their positive mode, both project this phenomenal world from the REAL or Self, in such ways that we perceive this world. We are dazzled, befuddled, entertained, confused, taught, fulfilled, frustrated and more. We walk, we sleep, and we work through it all. Our emotions are kneaded, beaten, rolled, twisted, turned, smeared, oiled, sprinkled, baked and garnished like pretzels through the gunas, namely Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. We feel happy one time and we feel unhappy other times. How do we extricate ourselves from this vise of Avidya and māyā? We are innately equipped to overcome these by Vidya and moksa– knowledge and liberation. 

Bhagavad Gita explains knowledge and Liberation.

C:  "God is really withholding something very important from you, Eve." Eve disbelieved God and His wisdom. Satan still has influence on people, giving them wrong ideas and thoughts on God. Satan succeeds. Eve's initial doubt and disbelief turn into disobedience. She ate the fruit and gave the fruit to Adam, which he ate.

H: When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and fell victim to the deception from the serpent, their innocence was lost; they became aware of dualities of gunas – right and wrong, duality of gender, duality of god and human beings.  

This original sin led to many other sins.